I had just moved back home from NYC and felt like a complete failure. I had lost my very lucrative day job, the entertainment business I started with my best friend wasn’t making any money, I owed $4,000 to another friend, my girlfriend dumped me, my lease was up so I was about to be homeless, and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

Then my Uncle came down from upstairs, walked into the kitchen, and told me that Steve Jobs had just died.

A few days later I bought his biography and began spending hours reading it in a spare bedroom my Aunt generously offered me while I got my life together.

I can’t tell you how many times I cried reading that book. It really struck a chord in me.

I realized that I had been following the wrong path—one that was disconnected from my heart and intuition. This realization led to a 4 year journey that I’m still on which included riding my bicycle across the country twice (Bike to Believe), traveling from tropical island to tropical island with a billionaire for a summer, living in 7 major U.S. cities plus Medellin, Colombia, and creating my first product that helps others create the life of their dreams too, Ultimate Freedom Lifestyle.

Nearly everything I learned that sparked this renaissance of my mind and life can be found in the following quotes by Steve Jobs. If you take the time to really think about what he’s saying, I think his words will resonate with you as much as they did with me.

1) “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Before I set off on my cross country journey from NYC to Las Vegas, I was super nervous and it was a huge leap for me because I had never been to the west before and only had one friend out there.

I was giving up my old life for this new life and I didn’t know why other than the fact that my heart and intuition was telling me to do it.

Because of this quote by Steve Jobs, I was able to have faith that even though I didn’t have all the answers at the moment, I would eventually find them. And because of that faith, sure enough, 3 years later I did. And like Jobs said, it has made all the difference in my life.

2) “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.”

I’ve learned along the way that events in my life look sort of like a frequency wave—up and down, up and down. My life is constantly ebbing and flowing and when it takes a dip for the worst, it can seem like my whole life is falling apart and I should just give up. But if you understand that this is how things work in life, then when things take a dip for the worst, it won’t have as much of a negative effect on you because you were expecting it. Not in a negative way like you think bad things are always going to happen to you, but rather that shitty events are inevitable and the path to greatness is paved by hardship.

3) “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.”

Man, this is crucial! The reality is that your work is going to take up a large part of your life—about 50 to 80 percent of it—so if you want to lead a fulfilling life, you gotta love what you do. Otherwise you’re going to spend a large part of your time stressed out and unhappy, which will seep into others areas of your life such as your relationships, finances, health, etc.

You may not know what kind of work will make you happy right now, but you have to start looking and experimenting. And you can never stop until you find it. Like Jobs said, you’ll know when you find it. DON’T SETTLE.

4) “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

One time I recited this quote in my head while in an AT&T store staring at this beautiful woman standing over to the side waiting to get her phone fixed. I got so nervous for some reason, but after reading this quote off in my head, it gave me the perspective to approach her and introduce myself. I ended up getting her number and we went on a date the next night, which turned out fantastic to say the least. To this day she is one of my best friends and I’m so grateful to have her in my life.

The reality is that one day not too far out you’re going to die and this ride is going to end. And once you realize this, the petty worries and fears you have that hold you back from your greatness become insignificant and you develop a certain power to make big moves and not give a fuck because you recognize that this is your one life and you need to make the most of it.

5) “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

There is probably no bigger lesson that I’ve learned than the reality that most people are living with major fears and limiting beliefs about what’s possible in this world and for them. And what they do by default is pass on those limiting beliefs to the people around them. One of my biggest struggles over the past 5 years has been overcoming the opinions and judgements of others, be it my family, friends, or strangers.

If there’s one thing you MUST cultivate, it’s your ability to be self-reliant and look within for answers.

Everything you see in this world was created by other people just like you. They weren’t all extraordinarily smart or have innate super powers. They simply believed in themselves and listened to what their heart and intuition was telling them.

You must do the same.

Ignore the naysayers and listen to what your heart and intuition is telling you.

They’re never wrong.

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